May 12, 2022 – The Spring event is dedicated to Jyl Bonaguro, the only female sculptor carving Italian marble by hand like at the age of Michelangelo. The event will start with the screening of Lifted, a very charming documentary made in Carrara, Tuscany, about Jyl. To follow an Opera performance by Soprano Saundra DeAthos and Tenor Edward Brennan, accompanied by pianist Wojciech Milewski. The singers will offer to the audience iconic arias such as O del Mio Amato Ben, Core ‘ngrato, O mio babbino caro, E lucevan le stelle, Ave Maria, Nessun dorma, O soave fanciulla.
The venue is the sanctuary of the iconic St. Michael’s Church in the very heart of Downtown Charleston, 71 Broad Street.
Event starts at 6:00 pm. After party at 7:30 pm to celebrate Jyl in a private residence with one of the most beautiful garden in Charleston!

March 18, 2022 – Lecture and live sketches by artist Forrest Spears with a focus on the Lunigiana area.
The Lunigiana is the far northern tip of Tuscany and its landscape is dominated by the upper (northern) section of Italy’s backbone, the Appenines. It’s not a touristic spot at all and there are over 160 castles to discover tucked into its landscape.
Born in Denver, Colorado, Forrest Spears lived all over the US, from Portland to Boston, and points in between. He moved to Italy in 1987 to work as a fashion designer and he spent 15 years designing shoes. Today, he calls home the property Il Poggiolo in Codiponte after a complex renovation.

September 30, 2021 – So proud to have presented at the Davies Auditorium (Ashley Hall) the first survey of Venus in the art, culture, and governance of Florence from 1300 to 1600. Dr. Rebekah Compton talked about her book VENUS AND THE ART OF LOVE that investigates on one of the goddess’s alluring attributes – her golden splendor, rosy-hued complexion, enchanting fashions, green gardens, erotic anatomy, and gifts from the sea. By examining these attributes in the context of the visual arts, Compton uncovers an array of materials and techniques employed by artists, patrons, rulers, and lovers to manifest Venusian virtues. She explores technical art history in the context of love’s protean iconography, showing how different discourses and disciplines can interact in the creation and reception of art. Venus and the Arts of Love offers new insights on sight, seduction, and desire, as well as concepts of gender, sexuality, and viewership from both male and female perspectives in the early modern era. The book has Cambridge University as publisher, a very prestigious one that tells you the high level of Rebekah Compton’s research.

May 24th, 2021

Charleston Library Society, Buxton Books, and the Dante Alighieri Society of Charleston celebrate the release of Italians in the Lowcountry – Sunny Italy’s Charleston Colony.
The sold-out evening includes a discussion by Eugene Massamillo about Italy, Dante Alighieri Society, and the continued cultural presence and importance of Italians in the Lowcountry and in Charleston in particular. Donatella Cappelletti della Porta, president of Dante Alighieri Society Charleston will introduce author Christina Butler presenting a brief illustrated overview of the recently released book. The book utilizes historic documentation, images, and interviews to add the important and diverse stories and experiences of Charleston’s Italians and Italian Americans to the city’s historical narrative. It chronicles the Italian experience from the colonial era to the present, with biographical sketches of noteworthy Italians, discussion of ethnic communities and businesses throughout the city’s history, and the contributions and the current Italian community in the greater Charleston area in the present. A preface from Cristiano Musillo, Consul General of Italy in Miami, and a section on the Spoleto Festival featuring interviews from former Mayor Joseph P. Riley and General Director Nigel Redden, highlight the important cultural contributions that continue today. The evening includes a viewing of Italian rare prints from the CLS special collections, live piano performances, and Italian wine and light snacks.